Land admin impeding return of vested property

The land administration is impeding the reclamation of vested property on different pretexts, a coalition of nine rights groups alleged yesterday.

It said while the prime minister asked for quick disposal of disputes over vested property, the land administration was obstructing implementation of the court verdicts in the cases concerned.

Speaking at a press conference at Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU), leaders of the National Citizen Coordination Cell to Implement the Vested Property Return Act threatened to wage a movement if the obstructions are not removed.

Since the passing of the Vested Property Return (second amendment) Act 2013, many disputes were taken to courts and verdicts delivered. However, on April 12, the land ministry issued a circular for inclusion of vested properties "left out and not included by mistake" in the gazette concerned.

Subrata Chowdhury, general secretary of the Cell, said this circular would hamper disposal of cases regarding return of vested property, and called it "illegal" and "unconstitutional".

“This circular must be cancelled," he said.

Former caretaker government adviser Sultana Kamal said 70 percent of the cases regarding vested property still remained unsettled as the land administration was obstructing disposal of the cases.

“The prime minister herself has expressed her goodwill for disposal of the cases. Yet the administration is impeding trials. We condemn this,” she said.

Like Subrata, she sees an ulterior motive behind issuance of the circular.

Executive Director of Association for Land Reform and Development Shamsul Huda, who is a member of the Cell, read out a written statement at the conference.

He said, “We strongly believe that a section of the bureaucracy has become hyperactive to hamper disposal of the vested property cases.”

He questioned why the land ministry issued two circulars at the same time -- one regarding left out properties and the other for stopping harassment of vested property claimants.

“We strongly protest this action and demand withdrawal of the circular,” he added.

Contacted, Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam told The Daily Star that he had no idea about the land administration impeding disposal of the cases.

“No one has complained. I suggest that the people concerned sit with the land ministry,” he said.

The Cell also spoke of a directive of the                  law ministry that allowed the administration of a certain district to file a writ petition against the lower court verdicts regarding vested property.

It said that although the directive applied to only one district, all district administrations were taking advantage of the "controversial" directive to harass people.

It demanded cancellation of this directive, too.

Kamal Lohani, president of the Cell; Rana Dasgupta, general secretary of Bangladesh Hindu-Buddhist-Christian Unity Council; Tabarak Hossain, vice-president of Sammilita Samajik Andolan, and Kajal Debnath, adviser of Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad, were present.